Hi y'all, I'm considering buying a twincam 300CE, but before I pull the trigger I have a few questions about stereo install issues.

1a) Where exactly is the problem with fitting larger (say 130mm/5.25") speakers in the dash? The speakers I want to fit have a VERY small motor with a diameter of only 1", because it's made out of rare earth materials (NeFeB) instead of the typical ceramic-ferrite. The speakers are prototypes of DEI's 130mm/5.25" neo coax. They require a hole of 4 3/4", and extend a little bit more than 2 1/4" inch down from the bottom of the mounting ring. For a look at the basket, see the pretty good picture below. Allegedly, this picture is of the Studio neo coaxes with a URL ending in coaxial_hirez.jpg, but obviously those ain't coaxes....



(Also the prototypes have a "breakaway" rim that leaves four "ears" that go up to halfway up the screw holes, so the driver's diameter can shrink by a bit.)

1b) How much clearance is there between the speaker frame and the dash grille? I assume that the poly baskets of my DEI's are thicker than the stock drivers' stamped steel baskets. Also, as you can see, the tweeter post sticks up a fair bit.

2a) Has anyone measured the volume of the existing door chamber?
(SIDENOTE: once I find out the volume, if anyone wants to give me the Theile-Small parameters of a drive unit you want to use there, I'll be happy to run it in lspCAD and tell you how well it will work.)

2b) If the door chamber is essentally infinite baffle (i.e. vented to the outside of the car), what's the largest diameter midbass that will fit in there?

3) Is there space for a sub in front of the front seats? (Imagine a subwoofer/ottoman, and we'll be pretty much on the same page.) A British gentleman named Gary Handa did something like this in a BMW 5-series, and Bill Burton (who wrote for Car Stereo Review, Car Audio Electronics, and wrote Sports Car International's "Music Machines" in the late 1980s/early 1990s when that mag was in its larger stapled-binding format.) put an 8" woofer in front of each seat in his Honda CRX. One nice part of doing the sub this way is that it'll keep the bass up front, despite the skimpy dash speakers. For a 300CE I'm thinking something along the lines of six Vifa M18WO-09-08 midbasses (three per seat) in a sealed enclosure of Qtc~0.6. Why the Vifas? Well, they do make great midbasses in a home stereo and therefore good subs in a well-sealed car. Also, I already have three of them that aren't doing anything...

4) I read somewhere (here or at the other big MB forum place) about someone putting a 10" sub under the dash on the passenger side. How much airspace could be carved out from under there without creating a safety risk for front passengers?

5) Is there even room for amps and various wires needed for them anywhere? I was thinking something along the lines of a false floor in front of the rear seats, with electronics there. (To start, I would use a vintage PPI A404.2 with an AudioControl 24XS to direct things. Later on I'd probably upgrade to Blaupunkt's Tripath-based digital amps. I could also put them in the trunk, but I like to keep my storage area totally free of car-fi, and I don't think that raising the floor in back by 3"-4" will hurt anyone..

Thanks for everyone's patience and help.